Opposition accused of irresponsible behaviour

A conservative commentator accuses the opposition of opportunistic irresponsibility for refusing to support the government’s new law on extending the virus emergency.

In Magyar Hírlap, László Petrin, quotes Italian sociologist Vilfredo Pareto, who likens the opposition to foxes, and the government to lions. In Pareto’s world-view, liberal ‘foxes’ advocate weak governments and pluralism, while conservative ‘lions’ are in favour of strong states. Petrin attributes the landslide electoral victory of Fidesz in 2010 to the fact that Hungarians were fed up with ineffective liberal governance. The pro-government commentator writes that since 2010, the left-liberal opposition ‘has been advocating anti-national ideologies’, an open society, pro-migration, anti-Christian and anti-family ideas – all of which are unpopular with voters. Petrin believes that the opposition parties’ decision to oppose the emergency extension in an accelerated procedure (see BudaPost March 25) is just another chapter in the ‘opposition foxes’ playbook. He suspects that their staunch refusal to cooperate in times of national emergency will make the opposition even less popular and help the governing lions stay in power.

Tags: coronavirus, emergency, opposition